First Contact
by Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs
Summary: 11/6/12 - Re-Imagining in the works; working title - The Eagle and the Phoenix. Some early working details are contained in the final two chapters, but have changed since then, some major, some minor. Final update of those details to come within the next two weeks or so. I hope to start writing it by the end of the month.
1. Down Time

_**EDIT 18/7/11 : Fixed the Rannoch distance and fixed up some of the paragraphing. **_

**This story has been something that I've been thinking about for several months. I believe that ME/BSG could actually work. I think it would be very interesting to work with the ME universe's far superior technology and throw it in to the BSG universe. Space is a big place, there's no telling what you may find out there. I'll start weaving the universes together in the next chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Down Time<br>**

**Tylium Refinery**

**Colonial Fleet**

**209 days since the destruction of the Twelve Colonies**

**Unknown Location**

**17:34**

Gus Wright sighed loudly as he put his feet up in his control room. Every day, he told himself that he was one of the lucky ones, he didn't have to risk life to filter the Tylium on the refinery floor, it was his job to monitor the pressure of the Tylium storage compartments. While the job was relatively easy, it was by no means unimportant. It was also his job to alert the refinery to any problems that occurred inside the storage compartments.

It was approaching the end of Gus' 12 hour shift and he was getting tired. He sipped his drink, recoiling when he felt its heat on his tongue. Alert levels fleet-wide had been slightly relaxed because no Cylons had been sighted, much less engaged, in over a week, which may have been due to their recently successful operation to destroy their Resurrection Ship. As a result, daily life became slightly easier to bear with. However, there was always the threat of the Cylons returning, and everyone was ready to act if they every did show up again.

Suddenly, a loud alarm swept through the control room. Gus' head suddenly snapped to look at the monitor. The pressure in all four storage compartments was rising at an alarming rate. He threw his drink aside, punched the station's alarm and settled his hands on the main keyboard, where he ordered the main tanks to shut down, so that the pressure could decrease on its own. It did not work, the pressure kept rising, quickly approaching critical levels. In this event, Wright was authorized to make use of the emergency failsafe, which shut down the entire facility. This had never been attempted before. He quickly entered his code, and the protective cover encasing the button and its key was unlocked. Gus took the key and turned it clockwise.

Again, nothing happened.

He cursed loudly and quickly reached for his radio to contact his shift supervisor on the ship.

"Dan, it's Gus, I have a pretty fracking big situation over here"

"Gus? What the frack is going on? I'm on the other side of the ship."

"The pressure in all four of the storage compartments are approaching critical levels. I've tried everything, none of the failsafes are working. There isn't anything more that I can do, you're gonna have to alert _Galactica_ and _Pegasus_ to our situation. Those tanks are going to rupture, and 95% of the fleet's fuel will go."

"Roger that" Dan acknowledged several seconds later. Suddenly, there was a massive crash, then three more in quick succession. That was the sound of the rupture of the storage tanks and a explosive decompression. What was left of the fleet's fuel was now spewing into the dark, cold vacuum of space.

**Rannoch**

**Perseus Veil **

**60,000 light years away**

**56 days since the destruction of the Reapers**

**18:75 GST (Galactic Standard Time)**

The large, orange sun started to set on the horizon. Rannoch's sun was older than Sol, and thus gave off a deeper orange colour. The result was an absolutely breathtaking spectacle, as the sun's deep orange light reflected off of the few lakes on this otherwise arid planet. In comparison, the Earth's surface is made up of approximately 70% water, creating it's vast oceans. Rannoch, on the other hand, was slightly larger than Earth, but water only made up 35% of its surface.

Commander John Shepard had seen this spectacle many times, but it didn't make it any less impressive. He was putting the finishing touches to a house that was situated by the lake. The house would belong to Tali'Zorah Vas _Normandy_, a Quarian crew member from Shepard's ship. She had been with Shepard since the very start of his first mission to hunt down Saren, he felt that he should repay her for the staggering loyalty and friendship that she had given him since he first met her on the Citadel during her Pilgrimage three years earlier. A year earlier, during a raid on a Geth occupied Quarian ship in the middle of the Migrant Fleet, the _Alerai_, Shepard promised Tali that he would build her a house on her homeworld, a promise made to her by her now deceased father, who was found dead shortly after on the ship. She accepted this promise, but obviously expected it be as empty as the promise her father had made her. Shepard couldn't blame her.

However, she did not expect that Shepard and the _SSV Normandy_, just over a year later, would liberate Rannoch from both rebellious Geth forces and the Reapers. Not only was he a hero to humanity and the Quarian people, he was a hero to the entire galaxy, much like how USMC Captain Jon Grissom became the role model of the Alliance in the years after his first exploration of the Charon Relay. While Shepard was not the official commander of the combined inter-species strike force which destroyed the Reapers, while suffering heavy losses. He was the figurehead, the main source of morale. Along with his team, he united the major species of the galaxy, dodging skirmishes by both the Reapers and the indoctrinated Cerberus, and led the counter-attack to retake Earth with the combined force of the fleets from the remnants of the Systems Alliance, Turian Hierarchy, Salarian Union, Asari Republics, the Quarian Migrant Fleet and the orthodox Geth. On the ground, they had help from the united Krogan clans, Geth mobile platforms and, much to the surprise and discomfort of most, the Rachni.

Currently, the SSV_ Normandy_ was docked at Ramala, one of Rannoch's largest cities. The majority of the crew was on shore leave, leaving a skeleton crew and EDI, the _Normandy's_ AI, to manage the ship's systems in their absence. Once their homeworld was liberated and the Reapers were eliminated, partly thanks to the help of both the Quarians and the Geth, who came to Earth's aid, the Quarians quickly abandoned their ships in orbit and spread out across the planet to occupy their ancestral home. This process was surprisingly quick, which was due to the care and attention that the Geth gave it in the Quarian's absence. The Geth even restored most the records of the Quarian ancestors, these included the vast databanks that were considered to be the combined work of the Quarian race spanning centuries, these works were feared destoryed in The Morning War, but when the Quarians returned they found that the Geth had restored them.

Arrangements were also being made to give the Quarians their embassy on the Citadel back, which was lost in punishment for creating the Geth over three hundred years before. This was done thanks to the request of Commander Shepard and was echoed by the Human delegation to the Citadel Council, especially Councillor Udina. Frankly, the rest of the Council saw no reason to reject their request.

While Shepard originally picked his friend and mentor Captain David Anderson for the job, he resigned several years later after abandoning trade agreements and authorizing joint military operations with the Turian Hierarchy in an effort to squeeze Cerberus assets in both Alliance space and the volatile Terminus Systems. He thus left the position of Human Councillor to Donnel Udina, the lifelong politician. Anderson had simply become bored and fustrated with his life in politics, harbouring a strong distaste for the waves of bureaucratic red tape that held him from doing what needed to be done.

When Shepard turned himself in on Earth after the Alpha Relay Incident, Anderson committed himself to defending his protege and friend from the political wolves. Once the Reapers attacked Earth during Shepard's hearing, Anderson helped him escape the planet on the _Normandy_. However, much to the dismay of Shepard, Anderson stayed behind to lead the Resistance, and was instrumental in their victory on the ground. Now an Admiral, Anderson took up the position of Head of the Alliance Navy.

"Shepard? You almost done?" a male voice called out to him. While Shepard did do most of the work, he didn't do it single-handily. He had help from Quiarian architects, who advised him on Quarian architecture and what old Quarian houses looked like. He also had help from Garrus Vakarian, whom Shepard considered to be one of his closest friends, along with Tali, and he was also with Shepard from the very start in his quest to take down Saren. Garrus implemented some Turian features into the house, while Shepard also gave it a Human touch. The result was almost supposed to remind Tali of her friends.

"Yeah, just about." Shepard replied. He walked down stairs and found Garrus standing there, still dressed in his chrome Turian body armor. Shepard walked over to him and turned around to survey his-their-work. After a minute of silence, Shepard turned towards the lake and the sunset, he then got an idea.

"Garrus, where's Tali now?" Shepard asked

"She's may be in Ramala, but I imagine she's on the _Normandy_ by now." Garrus replied.

"The sun doesn't set completely for another half hour or so." Shepard stated "Why don't we show it to her now?

Garrus thought for a moment "That's a pretty good idea Shepard, the sunset is great." Garrus agreed. Shepard quickly changed into his casual Alliance military fatigues and he and Garrus boarded the nearby parked air-car, which took them back to Ramala and its spaceport. 10 minutes later, they made their way back, with Tali in the main passenger seat and Garrus in the back. While there was a prototype permanent immuno-booster which Tali volunteered to test, she was still wearing her standard issue Quarian enviro-suit, which was a shade of blue with some purple.

The immuno-booster was being developed by on the Normandy by Professor Mordin Solus, the hyper Salarian scientist that Shepard picked up from Omega a year before. The Quarian immuno-booster was his next big project after curing the Krogan Genophage, which prevented a war right in the middle of the Reaper invasion, when species should have been united, not fighting each other. Development of the booster was going well, according to Mordin, and Quarian test subjects should only leave their suit enviornments in moderation and for suitable periods of time to prevent illness and to build up their immune system. It was, however, by no means finished. Mordin estimated that since he didn't have very many distractions, the booster would be complete by the end of the galactic standard year. The booster was designed to restore the Quarian immune system to that before their exodus three hundred years earlier, and in some cases it may even go further and strengthen a Quarian's immune systems even more.

"Come on Tali" Shepard laughed from the drivers seat "Close your eyes."

"I already know what you two are going to show me, John" Tali said, giggling slightly

"Look, I can see your eyes through that mask of yours. I've also seen your face, so I know when you are trying to fake it." Shepard pointed out."Don't make me order you as your Captain" he said jokingly. Tali sighed

"Fine Shepard" Tali said, the glowing eyes from behind her visor disappeared from Shepard's view. The house came into view, and they landed.

"Keep 'em closed" Shepard ordered her, Tali simply nodded. He and Garrus disembarked and led Tali towards the water in front of the house, they then turned her around so that she faced the house that was bathed in orange sunlight.

"Okay, you can open them now." Shepard said, with both he and Garrus standing behind her. For the first time, Tali laid eyes on the three story house, she immediately recognized the Quarian architecture, however, she also began to notice aspects of Human and Turian design, which she recognised from her time on both Earth and Palaven facing the Reapers alongside Shepard and Garrus. It was absolutely beautiful. She began to understand how much work both of them, her friends, put into this house.

"It's..." Tali stammered slightly from the shock "...beautiful." She felt a tear rolling down her cheek. Tali reached behind her head and found the seals for her mask, which she pulled off, once again breathing in the unfiltered Rannoch air deeply. She turned around to face them. They also picked the perfect spot. Right in front of the lake with a perfect view of the sunset. While there wasn't any more houses around, it didn't take a genius to know that this area will become very popular, very soon.

"Thank you, both of you." Tali said sincerly. She then grabbed both of them into a hug, which both of them returned, and then gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

"You deserve it, Tali" the Commander said with a broad grin on his face.

"Yeah, it's been our pleasure Tali." Garrus said. His mandibles then twitched with humour.

"Now, can you tell me about your immune system?" he asked. Tali narrowed her eyes, and she was about to give the customary reply of her having her shotgun. However, her shotgun was in her locker on the Normandy. Instead, she gave Garrus a soft punch to the chest.

"Not until you finish your calibrations." Tali countered. Everyone then burst out laughing.

Sadly, several minutes later, Shepard's omni-tool started to beep, killing the mood. He looked at it, it was a live communications request from Lieutenant Ashley Williams, who was supposed to be on shore leave with the crew.

"It's Ash" Shepard accepted her request and a holographic projection of her face materialized from the tool.

"Yeah Ash, what is it? Shouldn't you be on shore leave with the rest of the crew?" Shepard asked

"Sorry Commander." Ashley replied "EDI just received the latest burst from the recently constructed comm buoy. There's a priority message from Alliance command at Arcturus, Anderson wants to see you ASAP, he didn't say what it was about." Ashley said. Shepard sighed loudly, he was going to show Tali around her new home. But, while he wasn't technically under Alliance command thanks to his Spectre status, he still commanded an Alliance ship with a (mostly) Alliance crew and Alliance Marines on board. Besides, David Anderson was his friend, he couldn't just ignore his requests.

"Okay, I'll be there soon. Recall the crew, have them report to their stations and prepare for departure." Shepard ordered

"Roger that Commander." Ashley acknowleged "Williams out." He face then faded from view. Shepard gave a nod to Garrus and then turned to Tali.

"Tali, you can stay here, if you want." Shepard offered.

"No." Tali said instantly "While you and Garrus built me a beautiful house on my beloved homeworld, my home will always be on the Normandy with my friends, my family." she said sternly as she gave them last one look and refitted her mask. Shepard smiled again, he knew that she wouldn't stay behind. She was, by far, his best engineer anyway.

"Come on then, mount up." he ordered. All three of them boarded the aircar and made the journey back to the space port. 10 minutes later, the trio approached the docked _Normandy_, the Quarian guard of honor immediatley stood at attention when they approached. Shepard gave them the Alliance salute as he passed and entered the _Normandy's_ airlock. It took several moments for the pressure to equalise, and then they were finally on board. While the exterior of the _Normandy_ SR-2 hadn't changed much, apart from the paintjob the Alliance gave her, the interior layout was a slight hybrid of the Cerberus SR-2 and the original SR-1. Most notably, the lighting was altered slighty so that it was more similar to the SR-1.

When Shepard escaped Earth during the initial Reaper assault, the interior was a complete mess. It was a miracle she could even fly let alone dodge the Reaper's fire, which was a shining testamont to Joker's flying. After he turned himself in to the Alliance courts with regard to the Alpha Relay incident, the Alliance reclaimed the Cerberus vessel and tore it apart to study the new technology, especially EDI. They ripped out the Thanix Cannon and replaced it with two medium sized mass accelerator cannons that were fitted to it's underside. During the mission to stop the Reapers, he broke into Arcturus Station, where the cannon was transported for research, and 'reacquired' it so it could be refitted alongside the mass accelerator cannons. The _Normandy_ then became as powerful as a heavy cruiser, but was faster than any frigate in the Alliance fleet, even her Normandy-class SR-1 sisters; _Stalingrad_ and _Ain Jalut_

"ATTENTION ON DECK!" a Marine shouted. Suddenly, the crew that was assigned to the Combat Information Centre lept from their seats and stood at attention.

"At ease" Shepard told them. They then sat down again and continued their duties.

"Joker." Shepard stated. Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the crippled helmsman, swiveled his chair around to face Shepard

"Yes, Commander?" he asked

"Set a course for Arcturus, we have to go and see Anderson."

"Aye-Aye" Joker replied as he turned around. "Hey, Tali." Joker said before she turned away.

"Yes, Joker?" Tali answered

"How was the house?" Joker asked with a smile on his face.

"It was...beautiful" Tali replied

"That's great, I'm actually surprised that you didn't stay." Joker stated

"Why would I? The _Normandy_ is my home. My family is here." Tali replied.

"Aww, love you too, Tali" Joker said in a joking tone. Tali laughed as she turned around towards the elevator to Engineering, Garrus left with her to go down to the gun bays. Shepard, however, stayed on the bridge with Joker. While he could have stayed in the CIC and coordinated everything from there, he prefered to see the target he was shooting at with his own eyes and judge his tactics accordingly. However, in this case, he enjoyed Joker's company.

Joker's hands sped over the holographic display in front of him. The noise of the engines powering up filled the ship.

"Engines are now powering up, Jeff." EDI confirmed.

"I know that EDI" Joker replied with some annoyance in voice, his hands then started flying across the screen as he opened a comm link.

"Ramala Tower, this is the SSV _Normandy_. Requesting permission to depart." Joker said

"_Normandy_, this is Ramala control. Permission granted. Keelah-Se'lai." The Quarain operator replied

"Keelah-Se'lai." Joker replied, trying to pronounce it as best he could. The _Normandy_ undocked and reversed out from the spaceport. A minute later, they were in space and heading towards the local Mass Relay.

"Commander, seven minutes until first relay jump, it should take us a few hours to get to Arcturus." Joker stated to Shepard, who was standing behind him.

"Good, keep me posted." Shepard replied as he turned and walked towards the CIC.

"Transmitting approximate mass, transmitting destination." Joker said to himself. In the distance, he could see the blue light of the Relay shifting it's position so that it was pointing towards it's destination. As the frigate approached the Relay, it was enveloped by the Element Zero. A corridor of mass-less space was created between the _Normandy_ and it's destination and the Frigate was instanteounsly transported to its destination.

_The first of many jumps to get from one side of the damn galaxy to the other_ Joker mused to himself.

**With regard to Mass Effect, I've tried to combine info that we already know about ME3, details from the novels, and I made some things up. I don't want to mention how _exactly_ Shepard defeated the Reapers, so I'll leave it to you to imagine yourselves. **

* * *

><p><strong>Galactic Standard Time - If you haven't read the Revelation novel, I'll try to explain the concept behind GST. Basically, there is 100 seconds in a minute, 100 minutes in an hour and 20 hours in each standard day. To add to the confusion, each second is about as half as long as a human second. Yeah, it takes a bit to get your head around. Humanity operates in Terran Coordinated Universal Time, which is a reworked version of our modern Greenwich Mean Time. <strong>

**The _Ain Jalut _is a real Normandy class frigate in the ME universe, however, the _Stalingrad _is not. I thought they would have commissioned another one by now, and Stalingrad would have been a logical name for it as it was one of, if not _the_, bloodiest battles in human history.  
><strong>


	2. Operation Silent Eagle

**Well, here's another chapter. This will probably be the last one for a while, I'm on holiday and I will be leaving soon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favourited/alerted. I had no idea that so many people were monitoring these crossovers. I know I screwed up the distance of Rannoch in the last chapter, and I've fixed that, and I nearly screwed up the distances in this chapter too as everything was very close together. Nobody noticed another mistake that I made in the last chapter. The Colonial Fleet actually had two refineries, not the one that I had implied. I've cleared that up by inserting an event that did not happen in the series.**

* * *

><p><strong>Operation Silent Eagle<strong>

**SSV Normandy SR-2**

**Arcturus System**

**04:55 TCUT (Terran Coordinated Universal Time)**

Hours later, the SSV _Normandy_ arrived at the Arcturus Space Station, the leviathan that served as both the seat of the Systems Alliance Parliament, the primary legislation making body in the Alliance, and the Headquarters of the Alliance Navy. The station was constructed not long after the first Human Mass Relay journey made by Jon Grissom and his crew. The Arcturus System was their first destination and it was a major hub of the Mass Relay network, which later prompted the construction of the station.

The _Normandy_ had gained docking clearance faster than usual, it was obvious that Anderson had pulled some strings. They docked in the Alliance naval docking area, which allowed them to bypass the considerable security that was in place at the public spaceport. Despite the fact that Arcturus was a major Alliance 'city' and headquarters to the Navy, Shepard was dressed in full body armor and brought all of his gear. He also had Ashley, Garrus and Tali tag along too, it would be better if Anderson could deal with more familiar faces.

As the _'away team'_, according to Joker, waited for the pressure to equalise in the _Normandy's_ airlock, Ashley tried to start some sort of a conversation

"So" she began "What do you think this'll be about?"

"Hell if I know Ash" Shepard replied

"Hopefully, Anderson will give us something productive. The amount of leave we got after the battle for Earth was just ridiculous, even considering what we accomplished. It would be nice to fight something again." Williams stated

"What is there left?" Shepard asked "The Reapers are gone, Cerberus is a useless shell and the Geth have turned, we still have one on board for crying out loud!" she just shrugged in response

"Besides" Garrus spoke "If you wanted to do something more productive, you could have helped John and me to build Tali's house on Rannoch." Ashley recoiled in surprise

"So that's what you were doing? Did you finish it?" Garrus nodded "What's it like?"

"It was great" Tali simply stated. Just as the airlock doors opened, Ash put a hand on Tali's shoulder

"You deserve it" she said sincerely, Tali simply nodded in thanks.

The team walked quickly through the station. An outside observer would sometimes imagine the station's interior as being comprised of bland metal bulkheads and claustrophobic corridors. However, the reality was much different. A significant portion of Arcturus station was an 'artificial environment' that had forests, lakes, and even small cities. There was even wildlife which comprised of species that were native to Earth, such as birds, squirrels and snakes. There was also some species from other planets so that non-human residents could feel more at ease. However, these species were very carefully selected and closely monitored for signs of problems or unwanted activity.

The two most important establishments on the station were only 250 metres away from the Alliance Naval docking station. The Systems Alliance Parliament and the headquarters of the Alliance Navy were right beside one another. The team noticed that it the station was almost deserted, with only a handful of runners in the woods and some aircars flying overhead. Arcturus Station, like Earth, operated on Terran Coordinated Universal Time, so therefore, most normal people on the station were asleep.

The team strode through the station and entered the Alliance HQ. The marine on duty was about to stop them and drew his sidearm, probably because all of them were heavily armed and in body armor, but Commander Shepard only had to give him a stern look to get the marine to stand down. He simply stood back and saluted. It took the team several minutes to navigate the maze of hallways, but they finally arrived at the briefing room. Inside, David Anderson was waiting for them. When he saw them, a genuine smile graced his slightly aging face. Shepard moved forward and saluted his mentor. Anderson returned it, but quickly dropped it and replaced it with an outstretched hand.

"Come on John, I should be saluting you." Anderson said warmly. Shepard took his hand and gave his friend a small embrace, which was returned.

"Yeah, yeah, how's it going, sir? How's Kahlee?" Shepard asked.

"Fine, we are both fine. She nearly raised hell when I got up this morning to brief you." Shepard chuckled slightly. Anderson looked past Shepard and looked to his companions.

"Garrus, Tali, Lieutenant Williams" Anderson greeted with a nod. Garrus and Tali respectfully returned the nod, Williams saluted the Admiral.

"Okay, let's get started. Have a seat." Anderson said, waving his arms at the seats, which the team accepted and sat down. At the end of the room was a holographic projection system, almost identical to the Normandy's galaxy map and status monitor. Anderson stood up on the raised platform, turned the projector on and a galaxy map appeared. The map then zoomed in and stopped. An image of a mass relay then appeared, and Anderson started to speak.

"This is Sol." he simply stated. Another image then appeared

"And this is Arcturus. We are about thirty six light years from Earth." A circle was then drawn on the map, with Sol at its centre.

"This area, around five hundred light years in diameter, is a completely unexplored region of space. There are no records that would indicate that there are in-active Mass Relays within this area, the exception being the Charon Relay and Arcturus, of course. Not even the Prothean data banks on Mars indicated that they explored this area, other than Sol. For many years, both before and after the discovery of the Charon Relay, humanity has been sending probes in all directions in the hope of finding something of value. All of these attempts have ended in failure, until now." The Admiral now had the interest and attention of everyone in the room, so he continued.

"About four days ago, one of our military stealth probes, transmitted this photograph over the FTL comm link." Anderson pressed a button and the map was replaced with a grainy holographic projection of a photograph.

Despite the fact that the quality was extremely poor since it was taken from quite a distance, once the image was zoomed in and touched up a bit, it was clear what was in the photograph: a small space craft. It was a silvery chrome colour and it had a W shaped airframe, it's wings were smoothly swept forward and it had a bulky centre which probably housed its cockpit. The picture was of too poor of quality to make any further analysis.

"A fighter?" Shepard suggested "Is that it sir?"

"Yes" Anderson replied. "Before the probe could adjust it's equipment to get a better view, the craft disappeared."

"Was it spotted?" Garrus asked

"I'm almost certain that it wasn't." Anderson replied "It's a small probe, it would be impossible to get a visual on it from that distance. The probe also contains a stealth system. Even if that craft was in reasonable sensor range, if it had sensors at all, the probe would have been invisible without direct visual confirmation." Garrus nodded, satisfied with it's answer.

"Were there any life signs?" Tali asked. Anderson shook his head

"The craft was too far out for the probe's scanning equipment. I'd say that we were extremely lucky to even get this picture."

"What now, sir?" Shepard asked

"For the past several days, we have been discussing this matter with the rest of the Council. They have agreed to allow the Alliance to lead operations that will be initiated in the future, because it's practically our turf. However, the Council wishes to have a certain degree of involvement in matters that may involve a first contact scenario. It is for this reason we have agreed to have fleets from Council races to tag along with ours. The Fifth Fleet is getting ready here at Arcturus, the Turians are sending their own fleet, the 52nd if I remember correctly, the Salarians are sending a smaller contingent of ships along with an STG platoon. Unfortunatley, the Asari took extremely heavy losses at Earth and Thessia, so they won't be sending ships. However, the Geth have offered their assistance, and they'll be sending some of their ships. At full strength, it'll probably have two Dreadnoughts, one Carrier, about 15 Cruisers and Frigates. However, the expeditionary force won't be assembled and ready to set off for another week, and everyone's working at 120%" Anderson said truthfully.

"So, what's our job, sir?" Shepard asked

"Your job is actually quite simple, Shepard." Anderson replied "Not only is the _Normandy_ equipped with stealth technology, it's the fastest ship in the Alliance Navy. We want you and your crew to recon the area in advance of the expeditionary force and, in the unlikely event that the situation presents itself, make first contact with whatever is out there. You are a Council Spectre Shepard, you are a representative of the Council above the Alliance, I don't think that there would be anyone better for the job."

"Thank you, sir." Shepard replied.

"We also want you to drop comm buoys every so often along your route, which will allow the fleet coming behind you to re-trace your steps, breadcrumbs if you will. It will also allow you to communicate with either the fleet or myself. I will also provide you with mission updates if necessary."

Ashley then spoke for the first time.

"Where was the picture taken from, sir?" she asked. Anderson pressed a button and a smaller circle appeared on the galaxy map.

"We were not able to pinpoint an exact location, but we think it came from within this 150 light year area." he said, referring to the circle.

"What's with the massive fleet? Is that really necessary?" Garrus asked

"In my opinion, no." Anderson replied "However, while some first contacts go smoothly, others don't, as we both very well know. I believe that the Council thinks that it would be wiser to send a full strength multi-species fleet, it would not only be a powerful fighting force if attacked, but also how willing the races of this galaxy are willing to cooperate with one another."

"One last question sir, when do we leave?" Shepard asked

"As soon as possible. We are already re-stocking the Normandy with supplies and equipment." At that, Anderson turned off the projector and stepped down.

"Good luck Shepard, all of you. Don't put yourselves in necessary danger."

"Aye-Aye, sir" Shepard replied, offering a salute.

**One hour later**

**Normandy Briefing Room. **

"So there you have it." Shepard said as the holographic projector inside the table powered down. He was briefing the rest of his team on the details of the mission. "Questions? Comments?"

The room was silent for several moments, which was broken by the low, booming voice of Wrex, the Krogan Battlemaster.

"So that's it? One tiny probe takes a crap picture of a fighter, and the Council sends us in to recon the ass end of nowhere, and builds up a massive fleet to follow us. Are they out of their minds?" he grumbled. It was obvious that he couldn't decide to laugh at their stupidity or be disgusted at the amount of resources they were wasting. "The last time the Council did something like this, their representatives were slaughtered and they quarantined an entire system" Wrex stated, referring to the first contact with the Yahg.

"Shepard-Commander" Legion, the advanced Geth mobile platform started "We agree with Wrex-Battlemaster's assessment of the situation. We do not understand why the Council is dedicating so much resources to find something in this area of space, especially so soon after the destruction of the Old Machines. However, we are pleased to see that Geth starships have been allowed to accompany the multi-species expeditionary force, we hope this leads to better relations and understanding between the Geth and the Council." it said in it's usual monotone voice, occasionally raising it's 'eye-brow' flaps.

"Interesting. Very Interesting" Mordin said " New species. New physiologys. New languages. New cultures. Very exciting."

"I'm gonna have to agree with with Wrex and Legion on this one, sir." Lieutenant Jacob Taylor said. Rather than go back to Cerberus, Jacob chose to follow Shepard and took up an old offer to re-enlist in the Alliance as a 2nd Lieutenant. "What the Council is doing now can be a complete waste of resources or it can be invaluable to us if we run into trouble. However, we have orders, we can't afford to ignore them." Shepard nodded as he took the comments into consideration.

"Thanks for your comments." Shepard started "I agree that the Council's decision to bring an Expeditionary Fleet behind us is not the best decision that they've ever made, but we've just got to deal with it. We're leaving now, so get ready. Dismissed." At that, the crew stood from their seats and filed out of the briefing room. Once everyone had left, Shepard stepped out of the briefing room and into the CIC, the marines at the door saluting immediately as Shepard walked through the door.

The Combat Information Centre was a hive of activity as the crew prepared to leave Arcturus station and start their reconnaissance patrol of an almost completely uncharted and possibly hostile region.

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. The crew didn't know the specifics, just the fact that they were being sent on a patrol, Shepard would address the crew soon.

Then, the realisation hit Shepard as he walked up towards the bridge. This would be the _Normandy's_ first proper reconnaissance mission. Almost every other mission had used her stealth systems to evade enemy detection as they launched assaults on enemy locations planet-side, and both the SR-2 and her late SR-1 sister both excelled in this role. However, neither ship had ever been sent on a proper reconnaissance mission into either hostile or unknown space, missions where they would just drift in space for days observing and recording hostile contacts and looking for patterns that could be exploited in an attack.

Both the _Stalingrad_ and the _Ain Jalut_ had the honor of undertaking these missions, but the _Normandy_, the class flagship, had not. The _Normandy_ SR-2 was definitely well equipped for these missions, even more so than her SR-1 sisters. The Cerberus designers definitely did not cut corners when building her. At the back of his mind, Shepard even considered digging out the manual which dictated Alliance Military Doctrine, specifically Space Reconnaissance. There were many variables to consider; the strength of the force being observed, the range you were observing from, their sensor capabilities and anti-ship defenses among other things.

The FTL drive core and the _Normandy's_ stealth system were also major factors. However, the _Normandy's_ advanced drive core meant that they could go for three weeks or even more without discharging their drive core. The heatsinks in the hull could last for over a week and a half before they would have to be vented, although it's highly doubtful that a single recon observation would last that long. However, they had to find something first before most of those protocols came into play.

As he neared the bridge, he could see Joker's hands flying over the holographic display as he prepared the _Normandy_ for departure.

"Ready to set off Joker?" Shepard asked

"Yeah Commander. Docking protocols have been uploaded, and we're ready to go when you say the word." Joker replied

"EDI" Shepard addressed the AI "Is all cargo accounted for?"

"Yes Shepard" EDI replied, the blue sphere appeared from the holographic panel to Joker's left. "Thirty Communication Buoys have all been loaded and tested; all are in working order."

"Good" Shepard nodded "Joker, take us out."

"Aye Aye sir" Joker replied, he then pressed several buttons on his display. The ship shook slightly as the docking ramp was retracted and Shepard felt the vibrations under his feet as the engines powered up.

"Arcturus Control, this is the Normandy. We are commencing Operation _Silent Eagle_." Joker said

"Normandy, this is Arcturus Control. Roger that. Good luck and god speed." the controller replied. The _Normandy_ then reversed out of the docking bay and flew into open space.

"Take her out slowly, Joker. I'm going to address the crew." Joker nodded and opened a the PA channel. At that moment, the SSV _Kilimanjaro_ came into view. At one and a half kilometers long, it was easily the largest ship in the Alliance Fleet. The dreadnought was the flagship of the Fifth Fleet based out of Arcturus, and was getting ready for her mission to follow the _Normandy_ along with the fleets of the other species. While each species had wildly different space warfare tactics, the fight against the Reapers allowed them to experiment with each other to find compatible tactics. This mission, if anything, allowed them to develop these tactics, which was one of the large stepping stones to galactic military cooperation.

"This is Commander Shepard speaking" he said into the PA system. Throughout the ship, everyone stopped working and listened to his speech.

"Four days ago, a stealth probe took a picture of what looked like a small space craft. We have been assigned a recon mission deep into uncharted space in order to ascertain what that craft was and, if the situation presents itself, make first contact. All of us know that our last first contact situation didn't go well at all. I don't want to engage whatever's out there unless it's absolutely necessary. First and foremost, this is a recon mission, something this ship was specifically designed for. It is not an offensive operation. However, the Council is assembling an expeditionary fleet to move in behind us, so that may change depending on the outcome of our recon. Remember, you are not only representatives of the Systems Alliance and Humanity, you are representing the entire civilized Galaxy. Shepard out."

"Not bad, Commander. I liked your Saren speech better though." Joker said as he cut the channel.

"Thanks Joker." Another voice then come on the radio, it was the _Kilimanjaro_

"Normandy, this is the Kilimanjaro." the helmsman said "Good luck out there, we'll be right behind you"

"Roger that Kilimanjaro, see ya out there." Joker replied

"Okay Joker" Shepard started. "Head towards the area where the probe took that picture, stop every so often to lay a comm buoy for the Fleet." Shepard then walked out, back towards the CIC.

"Later Commander." Joker replied "Powering up the drive core."

The _Normandy_ then jolted slightly as the frigate accelerated to 120 times the speed of light, the windows outside showed a somewhat relaxing blue aurora as she accelerated to FTL speeds.

**Battlestar Galactica**

**231 light years away**

**22:49**

The _Galactica_ Combat Information Centre was almost completely silent as every person in the room watched on at the people around the centre console; those who made the decisions that decided the fate of the Fleet.

Newly promoted Admiral William Adama was not really that much of a religious man, but if he was, he'd say that the Gods had a cruel sense of humour. Every victory that the Colonials seem to scrape against they Cylon enemy is always off set by a disaster that sets them back somewhat.

Before their successful mission to destroy the Cylon's Ressurrection Ship, a group of Raiders jumped in very close poximity to the Fleet and targeted the Fleet's Tylium Refineries. They succeeded in destorying one and damaged the other before a flight of Vipers destroyed them. Even though they lost 50% of their fuel, they still had enough for at least a year, even with the Pegasus just joining the fleet. However, it was first assumed that the damage to the first ship was superficial. The events of the last few hours told a different story. While the damage done to the refinery was fixable, there was the lingering matter of the fuel problem.

"How much fuel did we lose exactly?" Colonel Tigh asked in a low voice, almost inaudible. He couldn't believe that this was happening, their was their second fuel crisis since the loss of the Twelve Colonies.

"98.6%, sir. Our reserves won't last the fleet for an entire week." Lieutenant Gaeta replied.

"Gods-Damnit" Tigh sighed, he would definitely love a drink right now, maybe it would've helped to wash all of these problems away for him, but he knew better than that right now.

"What about that asteroid we found a while ago, the one where we got our last deposit of Tylium?" Tigh suggested. Gaeta shook his head

"It's too far away sir, we won't make it." he replied. At the other side of the table in the centre of the CIC, Adama spoke for the first time

"Then we have to send out Raptors to surrounding systems to look for more Tylium. It's the only thing that we can do." The Old Man said. "Lieutenant Gaeta"

"Sir?"

"Coordinate with astrometrics and assemble a star chart for our current position. Use it to find the closest systems. We have to search those systems one by one to find the Tylium that we need. The survival of the entire fleet depends on it."

"Yes sir." Gaeta replied. He lept from his seat and quickly made his way to the computers at the back of the CIC to start compiling a list of systems, distances and coordinates. Adama turned to Tigh

"Saul, order all Raptors to alert and get them on the flight deck. Get them ready to launch as soon as they receive jump coordinates. Relay those orders to the _Pegasus_, we need all hands on deck to help find some Tylium"

"Yes sir" Tigh replied, lifting the bulkly phone that connected to the ship-wide PA system. As Tigh's orders were spread across the ship, Adama couldn't help but hope to the Gods that one of the Raptors would find something. If they failed, what he and many others tried so very hard to preserve will crumble beneath them.

**25 minutes later**

**Raptor One-Five-Nine**

**Battlestar Pegasus**

**Hangar Deck**

Lieutenant Lylia Ellway, callsign "Shark" accompanied her pilot, Captain Bill Duff, callsign "Devil", to their Raptor. The aircraft was sitting ready on the elevator in the Pegasus' hangar deck. They quickly climbed aboard, donned their flight helmets and turned their lights on when the Raptor's doors had been closed.

Once the door closed, they could feel their ears popping as the pressure inside the aircraft was adjusted and the artificial gravity system was engaged. The aircraft then jolted as the elevator activated and the aircraft ascended to the flight deck in the starboard flight pod.

Both Devil and Shark, the Electronic Countermeasures Officer (ECO) began a swift pre-launch systems and instruments check. Devil ensured that his both flight and instrument controls were functioning correctly, as well as his engines and avionics. Shark ran tests on the FTL drive, communications and scanners. All of these were essential for the mission. While they were not essential, she also checked the status of the electronic countermeasures.

When they arrived on the flight deck, they found that there was a line of about 10 Raptors taxiing to launch from the flight reduce the possibility of confusion, _Pegasus_ had assigned a controller with red illumination rods, nicknamed the 'batman', who directed the taxiing traffic on the deck.

"FTL, comms and scanners are a go, Captain. ECM platforms are also operational, just waiting for our jump coordinates." Shark said over the radio.

"Roger that" Devil replied

As if one cue, Shark's console started to beep, indicating an incoming message, it was a flash traffic message from the Pegasus CIC.

_**RAPTOR ONE-FIVE-NINE, THIS IS PEGASUS ACTUAL, YOU ARE TO GO TO THE FOLLOWING SYSTEM AND SEARCH FOR TYLIUM DEPOSITS**_

They had already been briefed on the situation, however, they had not received jump coordinates in that briefing. _Galactica's _and _Pegasus'_ astrometrics departments were searching for nearby systems and their information and coordinates were relayed from their CICs to their respective Raptors. Shark immediately programmed the FTL drive with their new jump coordinates, it was completed after several seconds.

"FTL programmed, Captain. It's nearly 20 light years away, approaching the Red Line"

"As soon as we launch, start spooling the FTL, we have to get this done as soon as possible." Devil replied

"Yeah, roger that" Shark replied.

Several minutes later, their Raptor was next in line, and they maneuvered it to the launch position.

"Pegasus control, this is Raptor One-Five-Nine, requesting permission to launch." Devil said into his suit radio

"Raptor One-Five-Nine, this is Pegasus control, you are cleared for launch. Good luck and gods speed." Pegasus control replied.

Devil flipped a switch and the Raptor lifted off the flight deck and both crew members were then glued to their seats as their tylium ion thrusters propelled them from the flight deck into space. In front of them, the small glimmers of the previously launched Raptors lit up space like small stars, then, one by one, they disappeared in a flash of light.

"Start the clock" Devil ordered

"Roger that, FTL jump in fourty seconds." Shark replied, the digital clock in front of her relayed the countdown. "Think we'll find anything Devil?" she asked

"I sure as hell hope so." Devil replied "I want to die fighting those fracking toasters, not floating helplessly in space." Shark nodded in agreement. Then, both of them started to feel the all familiar feeling of getting sucked away by space itself as the space between their Raptor and their destination folded together. Raptor 159 then disappeared in a flash of bright white light.

**MSV Relentless **

**ZE 6354 **

**20 light years away**

The MSV _Relentless_ was a modified _Kowloon_ class freighter that had been converted to a deep space exploration vessel by their new owners. Most of their cargo holds now held systems that helped the crew navigate uncharted space. It also held a significant amount of supplies for both levo-protein and dextro-protein species so that the mostly Human/Turian crew could survive for a lengthy period of time while exploring. The expedition was nothing more than a bunch of friends who all enjoyed exploring the galaxy. The de-facto leader of the expedition was Englas Verunus, a rich Turian who made his fortune selling expensive ship parts.

The area of the galaxy that they were exploring had been the subject of numerous myths and rumours. Even though Humanity had been on the galactic stage for a mere 3 decades, many of the legends that surrounded this area of space were centuries old. Verunus was interested in this area of space, and he recruited some of his like minded friends, who were both Turian and Human. Many normal Humans and Turians got along well, they had put their past prejudices behind them. Although, the shadow of their first contact still loomed over them on some occasions.

Verunus walked into the bridge where he found his human pilot, Martin Bright, working on the controls. A massive green gas giant dominated the viewing port, and it was getting bigger. They were moving into orbit. Before Verunus could speak, Bright spoke first

"Hey Englas. Before you ask, the drive core charge is approaching 70%, we can still go in FTL for a few hours, but to use a human phrase, it's better to be safe than sorry. It should take an hour to completely discharge the core." Verunus nooded.

"Good thinking Martin." he stated as he sat in the captains chair. As the ship revolved in orbit, the star, or _stars_, came into view. The view was dominated by ZE 6354a, an O class star which shone a bright blue. ZE 6354b, however, was a K class star who was dwarfed by it's companion. It had a deeper orange colour than Sol.

"It's a nice view, isn't it?" Verunus asked. Bright was about to reply when his console started beeping, loudly. In the distance, Verunus saw a bright flash

"Sensors have found something...a ship!" Bright shouted "Unknown designation! It just came out of nowhere!"

At that moment, so many thoughts entered Englas Verunus' head. Like all Turians, he had military training, but nothing could ever prepare someone for this situation. This was a possible first contact situation, were the aliens friendly or were they hostile? His ship was a freighter, it was unarmed. It would never survive in a fight. If they were hostile, it could start another First Contact War. He didn't want that shame to be pinned on both the Turian and Human races, irony aside. He could be in the wrong place at the right time, but he had a chance to get the hell out. Englas Verunus was scared, and he let his fear control him.

"Disengage the core discharge and get the hell out of here!" he shouted. Bright complied quickly, he was obviously afraid too. He disengaged the discharge, turned the ship around and reengaged the FTL drive core. It took seven seconds from the first sensor detection before they had engaged their FTL drive.

**Raptor 159**

**ZE 6354**

In another flash, Raptor 159 came back into being 20 light years away. Looking front of them, they could see that they were in a binary star system, with a massive blue star dominating it's companion. Devil adjusted his controls so that the Raptor was heading towards a massive green gas giant. Then, at the corner of his eye, he saw something move with incredible speed across space, it left a slight trail of light behind, but it was too far away to see exactly what it was. _What the..._

"Any DRADIS contacts?" Devil asked

"Negative" Shark replied "DRADIS is clear"

_Probably a damn comet_ Devil thought _You're fracking loosing it, don't you frak up now when the whole fleet is counting on you._ he mentally told himself

"That green gas giant has a couple of moons." Shark stated "We should try those first. I'm also reading a small asteroid belt in this system. We can try that afterward."

"Roger that" Devil acknowledged

15 minutes later, the Raptor approached one of the gas giant's moons. The atmosphere was virtually non existent, and it had no trouble in reaching the surface. Once they were 30 metres above ground level, Shark started the Tylium scanners. After 10 minutes of virtually nothing on the scanner, they were about to give up when Sharks console started beeping continuosly. They had found Tylium.

Lots of it.

"Holy Frak, the amount of Tylium here is off the fracking charts! We did it!" Shark screamed triumphantly. She knew that the Fleet was going to be okay. The gods were on their side once again. They will find Earth, some day.


	3. The Terran Expanse

**Sorry for the wait, but you should get used to it.**

**EDIT 18/9/11: After looking at the chapter again, I have decided to remove the final Cylon segment since I admit it was quite over the top, which has been pointed out to me. Sadly, due to my current work load, I haven't gotten around to starting the next chapter, but I will get around to it in due time, don't worry. I'm watching BSG Season 4 at the moment too, and I'm considering implementing the Cylon civil war later on, which was suggested by a reader and the Final Five may also join the party. Just a heads up.  
><strong>

**The Terran Expanse**

**One week later**

**SSV **_**Kilimanjaro**_

**Arcturus System**

**Citadel Expeditionary Force**

**00:31 TCUT**

The fleet was almost ready, over forty starships from the majority of the Council races, and the Geth, had been assembled in the Arcturus system. The fact that it had just taken a mere week to assemble this fleet was nothing short of a miracle.

The three major capital ships, two Dreadnoughts and one Carrier, served as the soul of the fleet. They were at the centre, and were escorted by Cruisers, who were placed in strategic positions around the three capital ships. The Frigates were split up into two flotillas, one serving on point, whose job would be scout ahead for the fleet and the other flotilla served as the rear guard for the fleet, they made sure that no hostile ships were tailing the fleet. Frigates also had a company of troops on board for boarding/counter boarding operations and planetary assaults.

Two of the capital ships were from the Alliance Navy, the Dreadnought _Kilimanjaro_, named after the largest mountain on the African continent on Earth and the Carrier _Chester Nimitiz_, otherwise simply referred to as the _Nimitiz_, named after Admiral Chester Nimitiz, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet during World War II in Earth's 20th Century. The final capital ship was the Turian Dreadnought _Palaven_. While it wasn't a new ship, the name was changed to reward the main Turian ship which helped liberate Palaven, the Turian homeworld, from the Reapers.

Officially, this fleet had been assembled to partake in joint exercises so that they could develop tactics that were made on-the-fly during the Reaper invasion. That was the story which was leaked to the galactic media, anyway. The story wasn't false, but like always, the public was never given the full picture until the powers at be believed that they are ready for the full truth. The story was simply inserted simply for the reference of civilians looking out from Arcturus Station or the military enthusiasts who use privately owned ships to observe Fleets to fulfill their obsession.

Unofficially, the fleet was assembled as an expeditionary force whose job it is to explore the uncharted region surrounding Earth, dubbed the Terran Expanse by some, and search for new forms of alien life. They knew that there was something out there, whether they were hostile or not was anyone's guess, but the Council obviously didn't wish for a prolonged first contact conflict scenario. The famous Commander Shepard was sent into the area a week before with his stealth frigate, the Normandy. While they hadn't heard from him since the start of the operation, they were getting clear signals from the comm buoys that they were dropping.

The decks of the _Kilimanjaro_ were filled with crew members and several marines moving from one compartment to another, it was all part of the process of getting this beast ready for operations, they were also waiting for final authorisation from Alliance Command to commence operations. Captain Jack Carter knew all of this was extremely important, especially the paperwork from the bureaucratic arm of the Alliance. Everyone hated to admit it, but the backbone of the Alliance Navy wasn't its fleets, it was the bureaucrats that sat behind the desks that handled most of the paperwork.

Carter knew this first hand, before he had the honor of commanding ships, he was a bureaucrat himself, working for the Intelligence arm of the Navy. He originally joined up to see the galaxy but that was apparently never to be. He saw where his career was going, and he was determined to change it. He started publishing papers on large-scale Fleet tactics in both ship to ship engagements and orbital assaults on planetary bodies. These papers revolutionized Alliance Naval Doctrine, and were quickly adopted. It also propelled him from his pencil pushing post directly into his first ship posting, Tactical Officer of the SSV _Tokyo_. Ten years later, he was now commanding one of the largest warships in the Alliance Navy, a far cry from the world one witnessed from sitting behind a desk.

Carter was on his way to the _Kilimanjaro_'s shuttlebay. He had gotten word from Alliance command that they were sending someone from Arcturus. He had even dug out his dress blues. The shuttle bay's size betrayed the scale of the ship itself, it could only carry ten UT-46 _Kodiak_ shuttles, which were assigned for crew transport and Marine operations. The _Nimitiz_, however, was a refurbished Kilimanjaro class Dreadnought, many of it's armaments and magazines were sacrificed for space for fighters and interceptors. There were plans for a Deadnought/Carrier hybrid prototype, with two flight pods with hangar bays attached to the sides, which was pending Council approval for development. The new class of ships was planned to named after great Human military Commanders. If they got the go-ahead, the new ships would be designated _Shepard_ class, with the first ship being named _John Shepard_

As if on cue, a UT-46 flew into the _Kilimanjaro_'s shuttle bay. It was painted dark blue and was marked with the Alliance insignia. The shuttle set down on the landing pad several metres away from Carter's position and the door opened immediately, two people stepped out, one person instantly made Carter snap to attention.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain." Andmiral David Anderson said. Beside him was Doctor Kahlee Sanders, an ex-Alliance military scientist that was widely recognised one of the galaxies foremost experts on artificial intelligence.

"It would be an honour to have you on board Admiral." Carter replied, Anderson and Sanders then stepped down from the shuttle.

"First things first. I'm sure you have heard about Kahlee Sanders, Captain?" Anderson asked

"Of course sir. Captain Jack Carter, CO of the _Kilimanjaro_" Carter introduced himself, extending his hand, which Kahlee took.

"Nice to meet you, Captain. Permission to assist with your science lab." Kahlee asked. While she was now a civilian, the old habits that were hammered into her during basic died hard.

"Of course, Doctor." Carter nodded. "I'm sure the guys down there would love to hear your input." He then nodded to a Marine who was standing guard.

"This Marine will escort you to the lab."

"Thank you Captain." Kahlee said sincerley, giving Anderson a small smile before following the marine out of the hangar. Once she left the bay, the two Alliance officers also left the bay, walking side by side. Carter couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, Admiral Anderson was the head of the Alliance Navy, why was he coming aboard just before they set off? And where was Admiral Hackett?

"With all due respect, sir." Carter started as they entered the main elevator "Why are you here? Where is Admiral Hackett?" Anderson answered immediately, anticipating the question.

"Admiral Hackett has been forced to take emergency leave due to family problems. With all of our fleets either on leave or deployed, there wasn't any experienced Admirals available on short notice to coordinate the Fleet during this operation. Therefore, I decided to take the initiative and assumed command. I had a deputy take up my work while I was deployed. The politicians argued, but to be honest, they can take their political agendas and shove them up their ass, just this once."

"Agreed, sir." Carter nodded, slightly shocked at Anderson's bluntness. The elevator then arrived at the CIC.

Like all Alliance ships, the CIC was in close proximity to the bridge, where the helmsman manned the controls. In fact, they were esentially the same entity, so much so that it the entire deck was usually referred to as either the CIC or the bridge. The deck was raised above the main super structure of the ship and was had three quarters of the hull in front of it. The deck also had a massive viewing port at the front. Both the positioning of the CIC and the viewing ports puzzled other races, in which their layouts greatly contrasted. Their CICs were buried deep in the ship so that it offered the greatest protection for the commanding officers and that it didn't present a critical target for enemy fire. Human engineers understood these problems, but their species still hadn't quite gotten over the romantic side of interstellar travel, and many crew members loved observing planets with their own eyes.

In the centre of the bridge facing the viewing port were three large chairs for the Captain, XO and the Fleet's Admiral. The seats were raised slightly so that they could see over the head of the helmsman, who sat at the controls seven metres away from the chairs. To either side of the command chairs were two stations, one for the tactical officer, and one for main weapons control. The CIC was arranged in a semi-circle, terminals stretched along the deck starting from the command chairs. Behind the command chairs was a large holographic projection system which was capable of displaying a galaxy map for plotting FTL jumps, the status of both the Kilimanjaro and other ships in the fleet and three dimensional battle plans, known as '3DTAC', used for large scale fleet tactics by combining the galaxy map's system maps with sensor readings from both the _Kilimanjaro_ and recon sorties. During this operation, while the main function 3DTAC was useless until the last moment as the vast majority of systems were unexplored, nearly sixty years worth of telemetry from recon drones and ambitious explorers had given them about 50 systems, all of which were dotted around the Expanse. None of them had any planets that could support organic life. While it was nearly useless for the operation, it did given them a sort of navigation marker, it allowed them to arrange a stop to discharge their drive cores into a planet's magnetic field and, in the case of the Normandy SR-1 class frigate _Stalingrad_, vent their internal heatsinks. There were two charted systems in the general direction of Commander Shepard and the Normandy.

When the pair entered the CIC, the presence, or rather Anderson's, was announced by the Marine sentry. In an instant, every crewman in the CIC lept from their seats to attention. Anderson straightened a bit before dismissing them, they then continued with their duties. A female officer of about 35 then approached the pair. She had average length dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Anderson couldn't tell if either or both were natural, as they were both genetically recessive genes in this modern age, making them very rare. Humanities' distincive diversity was slowly disappearing. He would have also considered her very attractive if it were not for a pronounced scar that ran down her left cheek. The scar wasn't terrible, but it was still very pronounced.

"Admiral Anderson" she smiled pleasantly "On behalf of the crew, welcome aboard the _Kilimanjaro_. I'm Commander Helen Breen, Executive Officer." She then offered a firm salute, which Anderson returned

"Thank you Commander. How is the ship doing? Is she ready to go?" Anderson asked

"Just about sir. We have just recieved final authorization from both the Council and Alliance Command, let me just say, sir, that they were not happy that you assumed command." Anderson chuckled lightly and Breen smiled

"A few Turian Cruisers are finishing final checks, then we will be ready to go." she finished

"Good." Anderson replied. He took several seconds to observe the scar on Breen's face. Before he looked away, she knew what he was thinking

"Torfan, sir." Breen stated, Anderson nodded. Nothing more needed to be said. She saluted again and continued with her duties. Anderson then walked forward and sat in the central command chair. _This is my fleet now_ he thought to himself. Before he could savour the moment, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Admiral, the Turian Cruisers report that they are ready to go." The communications officer said

"Good" Anderson said "Order all ships to power up their drive cores Anderson ordered.

"Aye Aye, sir." the comm officer replied

"Navigation, are we getting a good signal from the Normandy's comm buoys?"

"Yes sir, I'm getting clear signals on all 14 buoys. The 15th one is coming online now." the Navigation officer replied. Anderson then noded to Carter.

"Helm, power up the drive core." Carter ordered

"Helm, power up the drive core." Breen ordered in the routine of an XO

"Power up drive core, aye." the helmsman acknowledged.

"Navigation, set course for the first comm buoy." Carter ordered

"Navigation, set course for the first comm buoy" Breen repeated

"Course has been set, sir" the Navigation officer replied

Everyone then looked to Anderson. He was never one of speeches, so he got over and done with.

"Engage." he ordered. The pun wasn't really intended, but nearly half of the CIC nearly exploded with laughter. It turned out that a vid series that was nearly two centuries old was still popular with Human Navy crews. The ship shuddered slightly as it accelerated to FTL speeds. The core fleet kept it's formation while the recon flotilla sped ahead.

This 'expedition' would either be one of the most important undertakings in recent times or a monumental waste of time and resources. Anderson sincerely hoped that it would be the former.

**SSV **_**Normandy **_**SR-2**

**Deep Space**

**Comm Buoy #15**

**04:89 GST**

"Comm Buoy 15 is away." Joker reported. "I'm recieving a good signal commander, where to now?" he asked. Behind him, Shepard sighed loudly. They had been on this operation for nearly a week, and they had found absolutely nothing. As a commander, this fustrated Shepard. He knew that the expeditionary fleet was now only starting to come behind him, it may take them another week to catch up. They had almost zero intelligence going in, Shepard was beginning to regret accepting this mission, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Shepard then had an idea, he mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it earlier. The problem was a lack of intelligence, he figured out how to possibly obtain some. It paid to have the Shadow Broker as a friend.

"Hold on station here Joker, keep the stealth systems running and the sensors on." he ordered "Open a channel to Liara." he added as he turned towards the CIC.

"Aye-Aye" Joker replied as he prepared the comm channel. He didn't have to ask why he wanted to speak to Liara, and he agreed. Patrolling a 200 light year area with just a grainy picture of a fighter to go on was a waste of time without proper intel. He could almost feel the vibrations coming from Wrex down in the cargo hold, he knew not to mess with a bored Krogan. The fact that they had the resuorces of the Shadow Broker at their finger tips meant that they can get the intel that they needed.

As Shepard entered the communications room, the desk retracted as a grid of red lines rose from the floor. The Quantum Entanglement Communications Array worked in ways that Shepard couldn't begin to fathom. It was orginally implemented by Cerberus to allow secure communications between Commander Shepard and The Illusive Man. During the Reaper War, it was used to help coordinate strikes with other Captains in Shepard's ever growing fleet. As the red grid surrounded Shepard, the image of a room showed up, it was the Shadow Broker's ship, which was still in hiding in the volatile atmosphere of Hagalaz. Despite the fact the data was being relayed through comm buoys galaxy wide, there was no time lag in communications.

Shepard was standing in the centre of the main control room on the ship. In front of him, Dr Liara T'Soni stood at the main console, coordinating her espionage network. She accompanied Shepard during his final battle with the Reapers, using the _Normandy_ as the Shadow Broker's temporary base of operations. She was invaluable in gathering intelligence on both the Reapers and planets that they were going to assault. However, once the Reapers were defeated, she left the _Normandy_ and returned to Halagaz to continue her work aboard her ship. While the _Normandy_ was more than adequete for her work, she thought that the Shadow Broker's cover would be blown if she stayed, as the Normandy was becoming a galactic icon. While Shepard wasn't happy at loosing another team member, he understood.

Liara turned when she heard the communications device power up, and smiled when she saw Shepard standing there.

"John! What can I do for you?" she asked

"Hey Liara, I need your help."

"Of course." Liara replied

"I'm on an operation for the Alliance in an area of sp-" he started

"Yes, I know" she cut him off "An Alliance probe found some sort of spacecraft. The _Normandy_ was sent in to recon the area. However, the Council's response was perculiar. Over 40 ships left Arcturus Station several hours ago including three capital ships."

Shepard sighed in defeat, he wasn't surprised.

"How?" he asked

"You'd be surprised how easy comm buoy traffic is to intercept. All governments use them to transmit classified documents thinking the channels are secure." Liara replied somewhat smugly. Shepard nodded.

"I'm sending you a diagram of the area of space that we've been sent to recon. We're flying blind out here, is there any intel that you can find about the area?" Shepard asked. A second later, a holographic image similar to the one Anderson made appeared beside Liara. She turned and started typing on her terminal.

"That area has been the subject of myth and legend even before humans arrived on the galactic stage."

"They won't be of very much use to us out here." Shepard replied.

"Yes, I understand." Liara said as she stared at the monitor.

"Apart from the rare private exploration missions, the area is largely unexplored-wait." Liara said, her 'eyebrows' furrowed together as she skimmed through something with interest.

"What?" Shepard asked, intrigued.

"Just over a week ago, a rich Turian businessman was leading a private mission to explore the area. They stopped at a system's gas giant to discharge their drive core, their sensors then detected a ship that 'came out of nowhere', which didn't match any known ship configurations. The captain claimed that they appeared 'in a bright flash of light' . They paniced, thinking that it was the scout for a larger assault force and retreated back to the nearest Mass Relay, where they then went to the Citadel and reported it to C-Sec, who have chosen to not follow up on anything and recomeneded the captain and the helmsman for psychatric evaluation." Shepard nearly laughed at the end, it reminded him of the 'UFO' sightings that appeared in Earth's history. The circumstances surrounding the exploration vessel were also ironic. However, something told him that this was what he was looking for.

"Did they provide the coordinates for the sighting?" Shepard asked

"Yes, I'm sending them to you now, along with everything that I have on the area." Liara replied

"Thanks a lot Liara, I owe you one." Shepard said

"Anytime Shepard." she replied as the comm array disengaged.

Shepard then jogged to the bridge.

"Did you get that Joker?" he asked

"Yeah, EDI's programming the navigation systems now." he replied.

"Shepard" EDI started, her blue hologram appeared beside Joker "I have finished programming the navigation systems. The coordinates that Dr T'Soni provided lead to a system that has been designated by ZE-6354 by Earth based observatories. It will take us just over fifteen hours to arrive. Since the report indicated that they were discharging their drive core, it is logical to assume that they encountered the unknown vessel somewhere in the vicinity of a gas giant."

"Good work" Shepard said "I want you to open a channel to the Comm Buoy, audio and visual transmission." Shepard ordered. He then walked out of the bridge and approached the on-board communications station two stations from the bridge on the right, which handled conventional communications, i.e. those not covered by the Quantum Entanglement Array. The station was manned by a young Serviceman 3rd Class, the Navy equalivent of a Marine Corporal. As Shepard approached, he straightened in his chair.

"Serviceman..." Shepard started

"Newman, sir" the serviceman finished.

"Okay Newman, I want you to prepare a secure data burst to store along with this transmission, containing all of our intel. When I'm done, send it to the 15 comm buoys that we have laid, I don't want someone on the extranet intercepting it."

"Yes, sir." Newman replied

"EDI, send the data and your analysis to this station" Shepard ordered. Several seconds later, the C-Sec report, coordinates, it's position relative to their patrol area and EDI's analysis appeared at the station, where Serviceman Newman started compression and encryption. He also configured the station's camera, a bright red light above the monitor confirming that it was ready.

"Look straight at the camera sir, when the red light blinks off, begin." Newman stated, Shepard nodded. Several seconds later, the light turned off and he began

"_Kilimanjaro_, this is Commander Shepard of the SSV _Normandy_, broadcasting from Comm Buoy 15. We have obtained intel on the possible whereabouts of a space faring race, they were spotted seven days ago in a system known as Zulu-Echo-6354. The details have been included in the encrypted data burst that was received along with this transmission. We are en-route, ETA is fifteen hours. I have suspended comm buoy drops until this intel has been verified. Shepard out." Newman then turned off the camera and compressed the file alongside the intel. Once that was finished, he sent the packet to the comm buoy, which was then transmitted to the other 14 buoys that were dropped by the frigate. The Normandy then manoeuvred towards their destination and accelerated to FTL speeds.

**Battlestar **_**Galactica**_

**ZE-6354**

**4th Planet, 5th Moon**

**In orbit**

**Day Four of Mining Operations.**

**15:24 **

Mining tylium was a long and painstaking process. It was for this reason that Admiral Adama decided to split up the fleet. The _Galactica _would escort the mining vessels and the refinery to the moon of the large green gas giant where the deposits were found. The remainder of the civilian fleet was left in the hands of Commander Jack Fisk and the _Pegasus_. If they were attacked by Cylon forces, they were to execute numerous diversionary jumps before linking up with the _Galactica_ in their current system. Otherwise, they had scheduled a rendezvous after 10 days.

The mining vessels had just begun drilling the moon's crust for the tylium. While the tylium was in abundance on the moon, it was mixed with traces of an unknown element, which had to be discarded during the refining process, which took even longer. The majority of the last four days had been spent transferring the equipment from the mining vessel to the moon's surface and making sure that everything was in the green, much to the dismay of the military on board the _Galactica_, which was holding on station in orbit, conducting regular DRADIS sweeps, deploying Vipers for the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) and Raptors for re-supply runs and system recon.

"You know Bill" an annoyed Colonel Tigh said from the end of the central table of the CIC "Mining operations were so much easier when the Cylons left their equipment for you." he said, refering to the mission where the _Galactica_ took over a Cylon mining facility. Adama nodded in agreement.

There wasn't much to do other than wait for the miners to finish and pray that the Cylons wouldn't find them in their current position. They were far too exposed.

**Three Days Later **

**SSV **_**Kilimanjaro**_

**Deep Space, approaching Comm Buoy #8**

**09:51 GST**

At the behest of command, the Citadel Expeditionary fleet made it's first stop when they arrived at Comm Buoy 8. Since they had been in FTL transit for nearly three days straight, they decided to stop, take inventory and determine whether any ships were in need of a core discharge.

"All ships accounted for?" Admiral Anderson asked. He was warming up to his fleet command position, although it was still a completely new experience for him. However, he had fancied himself as a extremely fast learner throughout his military career.

"Negative, Admiral." a young enlisted serviceman stated from behind him. Anderson lept from his chair and turned towards the holographic projector, where 3DTAC was being used to display real time sensor information on the various ships in the fleet and their locations. The serviceman was visibly intimidated by Anderson's presence, but he pressed on.

"The _Stalingrad_ isn't showing up on our screens, sir." he stated Anderson didn't wait for final confirmation, he moved across the CIC towards the communications station.

"Comm, get me the Hastings." he ordered

"Aye Aye" the operator replied "Channel open, sir."

"_Hastings_, this is Fleet Actual." he stated

"Fleet Actual, this is the _Hastings_. We read you." the CO of the frigate _Hastings_ replied several seconds later.

"_Hastings_, where is the _Stalingrad_?" Anderson simply asked

"When we arrived on station an hour ago, the _Stalingrad_ detected a planetary body on their long range sensors. They left on a solo recon mission to scout out the system." he replied.

"Roger that _Hastings_." Anderson replied. "Thanks. Fleet Actual out." The comm officer then cut the link. It did make sense. The Normandy class frigates were designed for those missions, the other frigates would give them away.

"Helm, how's the core?" Captain Carter asked

"About 59%" he replied "Sir, I recommend that we should, if we can, discharge our core in the nearest system. Better safe than sorry." Carter simply nodded, the helmsman then turned around and continued working. As much as it pained him to say it, Anderson missed Joker and his sense of humour.

"Sir, I think I've got something." the communications officer spoke again. "The Comm Buoy had data burst stored on it. It's from the _Normandy_, video and audio transmission." Captain Carter and Commander Breen then joined Anderson at the station, the officer then patched the transmission it. A recording of Commander Shepard then appeared on the screen.

"_Kilimanjaro_, this is Commander Shepard of the SSV _Normandy_, broadcasting from Comm Buoy 15. We have obtained intel on the possible whereabouts of a space faring race, they were spotted seven days ago in a system known as Zulu-Echo-6354. The details have been included in the encrypted data burst that was received along with this transmission. We are en-route, ETA is fifteen hours. I have suspended comm buoy drops until this intel has been verified. Shepard out."

"Did you get the data burst?" Carter asked the communications officer.

"Yes sir, it has the coordinates and all of their intel. I'm sending it to your omni-tools and to the rest of the fleet."

"Good." Carter stated "So, we'll wait for the _Stalingrad_ to report back, discharge our drive cores and link-up with Shepard. Navigation, how far is the system?"

"About three days FTL, sir." the navigation officer replied "Two and a half if we pushed the core." Carter nodded.

"Sensor contact!" someone in the CIC shouted "It's the _Stalingrad_, and they're broadcasting." The sound of the _Stalingrad_ CO's shouting filled the CIC speakers.

"_Kilimanjaro_, _Kilimanjaro_; this is the _Stalingrad_, do you read me?

"We read you _Stalingrad_" Anderson replied. "Report"

"We've found them, sir."

** I would also like to ask for ideas, if any of you have any. I have several things mapped out, engagements, contacts etc. But I honestly don't know how I should go about it after all that. Should I destroy the Cylons, go back to the Colonies and terraform them back to liveable conditions? Things like that. The whole Thirteeth Tribe thing is also bothering me. I have some ideas, but I would like to know what you, the readers, would like to see in a BSG/ME crossover, since one has never been completed. With regards to the team, they will play a bigger role when the alien races become known to the Colonials, until then, Alliance Marines will be conducting the operations, of which will probably be just one.**

**Since we have't seen Alliance or Turian dreadnoughts, I'll try to descirbe what I think they would look like. The _Kilimanjaro_ class would actually resemble a Battlestar, without the flightpods and the raised command deck, similar to Stargate's X-304s (e.g. _Daedalus_). The _Shepard_ class Dreadnought/Carrier that I mentioned is a step towards a Colonial Battlestar. The Turian dreadnought is just an enlarged version of a Turian cruiser, see the Mass Effect box-art for what they look like.  
><strong>


	4. Authour's Note: Diaspora

I've been thinking a lot lately. If you haven't read the notice on my profile, all of my stories are effectively dead in the water since I just lack the motivation to continue, and the workload being dropped on me is substantial. This story is no exception, I've got a lot of postive reception, but some constructive negative criticism, which I have thought about and taken on board. I got to about half way through writing the next chapter over the final months of last year and I just...gave up. This story, in it's current form, is just unworkable in my opinion.

For instance, I_ really_ went overboard with the fleet size in this story and the whole first contact insurance thing. In hindsight, I really don't know what I was thinking. The time frame was all wrong too, it was only months after the Reaper Invasion. I failed to deduce the obvious reality about just how desructive the Reapers were (or would be), and this was shown in Mass Effect 3 brilliantly. Drawing the fleets together, as I did here, could have never happened this long after the Reaper invasion, Mass Relays or no Mass Relays. Playing ME3 has highlighted this to me. It almost embarrasing reading it again.

Therefore, I have decided to completely rewrite it in light of recent events in the Mass Effect series. I'm not going to factor in all elements of the ending, I may just ignore most of it so that the Mass Effect universe actually survives. That means no Commander Shepard or Team Normandy, sorry folks. He (or she) had their time in the spotlight. In my ideal ending, he is MIA after supposedly sacrificing himself valliantly to destroy the Reapers after resisting a sustained indoctrination attempt. No corpse was ever found. He became a legend in the galacitc community, and left a greiving Tali to build her own house on Rannoch with the help of Garrus and a few Geth.

With the idea that I am currently working on, the rewrite of First Contact will take place several years after the end of Mass Effect, the galaxy is still very much in the middle of rebuilding after the Reaper War. It will mainly focus on Human and Turian forces and their inter-racial cooperation after the war. I have also decided to toy around with the timeline of BSG. I am considering having the Pegasus, and possibly several more warships left over from it's Battlestar Group (BSG 62), encounter the Galactica much earlier in the series, during Season 1, while they are searching for Kobol, which may be very important for both universes. Since I wouldn't want to see Cain taking command of the Fleet, perhaps Adama is promoted to Rear Admiral after their Escape at Rangar Anchorage or otherwise during the series. I have also devised a solution to the Thirteenth Colony problem that I have been whining about while writing this story.

I don't know, these are ideas that I am toying with. I'd also like to thank everyone for their support and critique. I had no idea that a ME/BSG crossover was so sought after. This has been by far my most popular story even if it was lackluster and over the top in my own opinion and in hindsight. While I did say before that I had no motivation, looking at the total stats for this story while writing this note has changed this a bit.

However, as you all know, I am a pretty slow writer, so don't expect to see this rewrite for several months, possibly during the summer. I will also try to write several chapters at first and release them slowly, just to gauge reactions. On naming it, it will either be called **_Second Contact_**, which actually make much more sense than First Contact, or **_Diaspora_** since I love the word, and it fits perfectly with BSG (Diaspora Oratorio from the BSG OST is fantastic, by the way)

If you have any ideas or suggestions for the rewrite, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,

c0H.


	5. Appendix Mk IV

_**UPDATED 15/07/12**_

_**I actually had time today to mess with various aspects of the rewrite. I mainly focused on ships, and I decided to write this, it's mainly to keep me right later on when I decide to write the story again, and it may well be updated with the characters of the story eventually, just to keep track of every one. I see this technique in various stories, such as the Battlestar Prometheus series, where it's mainly done for the reader's benefit. For the ship entries, I tried to emulate the ME Codex as best as possible. **_

_**I'm posting this here so that you, the reader, can tell me if I'm going the wrong way. For instance: are the Heavy Cruisers **__**too**__** over powered? Should EDI be installed on the mass-produced SR2s? Do you want to remain true to the BSG series and keep the Pegasus on it's own, or should there be more/less ships allocated to BSG 62?**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>New Mass Effect Ship Designations<strong>_

_**Stealth Frigates**_

After the Reaper Conflict, Stealth Frigates have becomes much more distinctive than their regular Frigate sisters. These ships are designed for solo or group deep-space reconnaissance missions, but have the firepower to pack a heavy punch where necessary. The role played by both the Normandy SR1 and SR2 during the conflicts have made it clear to navies across the galaxy how useful such a vessel is in space warfare. However, due to the classified nature of the technology utilised by these ships, only the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy have built and fielded these vessels. In light of peace between the Quarians and the Geth, Citadel regulations on Artificial Intelligence have been relaxed to allow these Frigates to be installed with a shackled _Enhanced Defence Intelligence_ program, which mans the cyber-warfare suite of the ships. Only under the expressed permission of the CO and XO of the ship may the AI take full control of the ship's systems. Each AI has slightly different personality matricies, and the code was adapted by Turian programmers for installation on Turian Stealth Frigates. The new generation of SR2s also have improved kinetic barriers and drive cores based on technology salvaged from Reaper vessels. Each Stealth Frigate also carries a platoon of Marines for boarding/anti-boarding engagements and groundside recon missions.

**Crew -** 50 (not including Marine compliment)

**Marine Compliment –** 36

**Armament**

1x Mk.I Thanix Cannon

Javelin Torpedoes

_GARDIAN_ Batteries

**Other features**

2x UT-47a _Kodiak_ Drop Shuttles

Geth High Resolution LADAR arrays

FTL-capable _'Sonobuoy' _Stealth Sensor Buoys

Quantum Entanglement Communicator

'Recon Center'

_**Battlecruisers**_

Battlecruisers are capital ships dsigned to bridge the sizeable gap between Cruisers and Dreadnoughts. They combine the relative agility and maneuverability of a Cruiser with firepower comparable to that of a dreadnought. As with Stealth Frigates, the initial designs for these vessels were part of a joint effort between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, with the help of salvaged technology from downed Reaper vessels. Battlecruisers are the newest addition to the Human and Turian fleets and due to their relatively low tonnage, they are not covered by the Treaty of Farixen, which imposes Dreadnought construction restrictions on the Council Races. Battlecruisers also house a Marine Battalion or Cohort for operations where groundside support is necessary. In an effort to make improvements over standard Cruisers, Battlecruisers come with a dedicated hangar bay separate from the cargo bay, which houses the shuttles and Marine assault transports, which can house three squadrons of fighter or attack space craft, with 15 aircraft per squadron. In the Systems Alliance Navy, Battlecruisers are named after great human military leaders.

**Crew - **975 (not including Marine compliment)

**Marine Compliment -** 240

**Air Wing** - 2 Fighter Squadrons (F-185 Hawk); 1 Strike Squadron (A-95 Shark)

**Armament**

1x 20" Mass Accelerator

2x Mk. II Thanix Cannons

20x 12" Broadside Mass Accelerators (10 per side)

_GARDIAN_ Batteries

**Other features**

5x UT-47a _Kodiak_ Drop Shuttles

5x UT-50 _Buzzard _Troop Transports

Quantum Entanglement Communicator

'War Room'

_**UT-50 Buzzard Marine Assault Transport**_

Buzzard troop transports are a new class of troop transports that have already seen wide usage across the main galactic races. During the conflict with the Reapers, several significant shortcomings were noted on the Kodiak drop shuttles. While they excelled in inserting small combat teams deep behind enemy lines, many problems were faced when attempting troop transports during large scale planet-side operations. Not only was it's troop capacity inadequate, their light mass accelerators proved ineffective against anything but lightly armoured vehicles or installations. The Buzzard attempted to address these concerns. It carries a maximum fully loaded troop capacity of 25, its folding wings contain four pylon mounts for unguided HE missiles and laser-guided anti-armour missiles which allow Buzzards to take on a Close Air Support (CAS) role. However, these improvements come at a price: while the Buzzard's uses the same element zero core as the Kodiak, it's FTL capability and the strength of their kinetic barriers are much more limited due to the size of the ship and are thus almost totally dependent on their mother ships for insertion or extraction. However, to alleviate this, the Buzzard's armour is much heavier and thicker than that of the Kodiak. Despite such drawbacks, however, the Buzzard has become extremely popular among the Council races, their effectiveness and utility has been demonstrated multiple times during operations against pirates, slavers and looters.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Task Force Aquila - Joint HumanTurian Flotilla**_

**2x **_**Alexander**_**-class Battlecruisers:**

SSV _Julius Caesar_

_Vanguard_

**4x**_** Normandy SR2**_**-class Stealth Frigates:**

SSV _Normandy_

SSV _Marathon_

SSV _Actium_

_Astute_

N/B: _Actium _and _Astute _both house a joint Human/Turian Marine Compliment. 

**2x **_**Invincible**_**-class Cruisers**

_Endurance_

_Vigilant_

**1x **_**Los Angeles**_**-class Cruiser**

SSV _Jerusalem_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Remnants of Battlestar Group 62 (BSG 62)<strong>_

**1x**_** Mercury**_**-class Battlestar**

_Pegasus_

**3x **_**Valkyrie**_**-class Battlestars**

_Perseus_

_Aegis_

_Achilles_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Systems Alliance + Turian Military Organisation<strong>_

_**Systems Alliance Marine Corps Command Structure**_

**ENLISTED**

_Private _

Private 1st Class

Corporal

**NCOs**

Service Chief

Gunnery Chief

Operations Chief

**OFFICERS**

2nd Lieutenant

1st Lieutenant

Staff Lieutenant

_Captain_

Major

_Lieutenant Colonel_

_Colonel_

General

_**Hierarchy Marines Command Structure**_

**ENLISTED **

Priuvate

Private 1st Class

Corporal

**NCOs**

Sergeant

Sergeant 1st Class

Master Sergeant

**OFFFICERS**

Lieutenant

Centurion

Centurion 1st Class

Primus Palus

Legate

General

* * *

><p><em><strong>Updates<strong>_

_**15/07/12 - Mk. IV  
><strong>_

_**Sneaked in a few additions to the Battlecruisers:  
><strong>_

_**Changed weapon units from the weight of the fired projectile to the caliber of the gun.  
><strong>_

_**Increased crew compliment once more from 700 to 975.  
><strong>_

_**Battlecruisers now have an aft hangar bay with a capacity of three squadrons, this adds up to about 20 planes short of a modern Nimitiz-class Aircraft Carrier and a good 150-160 less than a Mercury-class Battlestar. This was added so that the ME universe has another answer to the Cylon Raiders other than GARDIAN batteries, but realistically, they won't be effective unless they engage alongside Colonial Vipers and Raptors.  
><strong>_

_**Replaced Javelin Torpedo with smaller caliber broadside MAs, which are mounted on dreadnoughts according to the codex.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>2706/12 -Mk. III**_

**The SSV **_**Normandy **_**has been added, and with it, Commander Shepard and crew from Mass Effect 3. My reasoning behind this is explained in the next 'chapter'.**

**Changed the ME Universe's Task Force name from Sabre to Aquila. **_**Aquila **_**is Latin for Eagle, and it fits in better with my current story title - they are obviously the Eagles, the Colonials are the Phoenixes, which are resembled on the badges of the Colonial Fleet and the Colonial Seal on their flags.**

**Added FTL-capable Stealth Sensor Buoys, affectionatley nicknamed 'Sonobuoys', to the inventories of Stealth Frigates. It allows them to monitor their immediate surroundings during fleet stopovers without fully commiting their vessels to risky deep space screening operations. These buoys are fully automated, and return to the ship in question after a user-defined period of time or can be extracted by the ship in question.**

**Renamed the Frigate's War Room to Recon Center, to better reflect its primary purpose. While the **_**Normandy **_**was originally intended to be Admiral Anderson's flagship (on a Frigate no less), the later production models could be designed to use the room's computers to monitor telemetry from the powerful Geth-designed LADAR arrays and sensor buoys. Conventional sensor control remains in the hands of the AI and the CIC. The War Room on Battlecruisers remain Fleet Command and Control centers. **

**Added a new shuttle variant for the Battlecruisers. It seemed logical to have a more heavy duty transport since Battlecruisers have a much larger Marine compliment on board. I recall a scene in ME3 where tons of Kodiaks descended from space, and it just didn't look right, honestly. A ship of this type is needed. It's basically the ME equalivilent of a CAS Raptor and it's inspired a bit by our Russian Mi-17 'Hip' and Mi-24 'Hind' Transport/Multirole helos.**

**Modified the Battlecruiser armament slightly. The Thanix cannons are a Capital Ship-friendly Thanix implementation of a larger calibre than the Mk.I, but they are only single barreled weapons, rather than their dual barreled Mk. I counterparts. Their field of fire is set at about 60 degrees, both cannons are set on coaxial mounts; one canon on a port side spinal mount, and another on the starboard side, with the Mass Accelerator in the centre in a fixed position. The two cannons can create an overlapping field of fire to pack a bigger punch against other capital ships, or engage two simultaneously. Thanks to _Thelordofstorms _for helping me in ironing out the details of the ship armament.  
><strong>

**Changed **_**Mars **_**class Battlestar designation back to **_**Valkyrie**_**. I think that it makes them easier for the reader to visualize, as the only known Battlestar of this class ever named in the show was the **_**Valkyrie**_**. **

**I also changed the **_**Posideon **_**to **_**Achilles**_**, as it seems illogical to name a 'baby Battlestar' after one of the Olympians, a name that would be reserved for a much larger capital ship. Achilles was one of the greatest heros in Greek (or Colonial, whatever way you look at it) mythology, and was one of the main movers during the Trojan War. I think that it will be interesting to explore the reactions and implication to the common mythology that the both universes share. The common mythology is something which I think didn't make sense at the end of BSG, for instance: ~147,000 years after the Colonials landed, the dieties such as Zeus, Apollo, Hera and the rest of the Gods are suddenly revived and worshiped in Ancient Greece, the Pythian Prophets start up again in Delphi, etcetera etcetera. I don't think so, unless homo-sapiens have some sort of genetic memory. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>114/12 - Mk II **_

**Updated details of Frigate AIs. While they will still technically be referred to as Enhanced Defence Intelligences, they won't be **_**EDI**_** from ME2/ME3**_**. (Thanks to Chris7221 for suggesting this)**_

**Changed Heavy Cruisers to Battlecruisers, increased crew and marine compliments to reflect their status as capital ships and accordingly increased the shuttle count. **_**(Thanks to Chris7221 for suggesting the increase in compliments and F-14 Tomcat Lover for suggesting the change in designation for the Heavy Cruisers)**_

**Changed **_**Valkyrie**_**-class Battlestars to **_**Mars**_**-class, which according to **_**F-14 Tomcat Lover**_** is the canon class designation for the Battlestar **_**Valkyrie**_** among the others of that type seen in BSG. I have found no material to back this up, so I may change it back when I write the story, but I'll put it in for now. **

**Introduced slight changes to the canon Mass Effect rank structures. Changes have been highlighted in the SA ranks. I've opted to stick with Private rather than Private Second Class and I have added Lt Colonel and Colonel to break the seemingly massive jump from Major to General. For the Hierarchy Marines, I've blended a modern, more canon approach in their Non-Commissioned ranks and I have taken a more Roman inspired approach with the later Officer ranks. Turian Military doctrine was apparently inspired by Roman military doctrine; and I've always seen the Turians as alien space Romans. Hell, even most of their names look like Latin names (**_**Garrus, Nihlus, Septimus, Victus etc)**_**. **_**Primus Palus**_** literally means 'First File', and it was the top Centurion rank in a Roman Legion. Here, Centurions would lead Centuries and Cohorts, Legates would primarily lead a single Legion and Generals would lead a group of Legions. **


	6. Final Update

**Final Update – 27/06**

I guess I'm almost ready to begin writing the story, the basic skeleton story is pretty much there, and the only problems are a beginning, an ending and the exact order of events.

I have several different openings that I'm toying with. It a no-brainer for the Colonials, it will start with the familiar events from the Miniseries for the _Galactica _and the Fleet, and Razor, which will cover the survival of the _Pegasus _and the other Battlestars of BSG 62. The main events of the story will take place late Season 1/early Season 2 of BSG, which takes place around a month or two after the holocaust, I believe.

The problem that I'm facing is figuring out how to throw the Mass Effect task force into the fray. Within the ME universe, the story takes place around five years after the Reaper Invasion; Shepard and team accompany a recently upgraded _Normandy_, which joins Task Force Aquila for a shakedown run with similarly upgraded ships. Shepard's reinstatement, his command of the Normandy and his team's presence will be largely ceremonial, they don't expect anything major to happen. I was convinced by several readers (Agent-G in particular) to include the Normandy and Team Shepard, I wasn't originally going to include them, as I stated in the first update. The extended Destroy ending (I haven't seen the other endings, so I can't comment on them) pretty much confirms that Shepard survives in some shape or form. I've been reading up on what little we know of the navigation behind BSG, there's nothing official on the actual location of Earth in relation of the Twelve Colonies, but a logical and reasonable explanation can be found on the BSG wiki, which states that the Twelve Colonies, and by extension _Galactica, _are located somewhere in the Perseus arm of the Milky Way, around 2000 light years from Sol. The current idea that I'm working with get TF _Aquila_ to the Perseus Arm in a relatively short space of time, but it involves some space magic, I'm afraid, and I'm not sure how it would be received. Once they get there, they obviously have to stay there, and I'm working on that too.

The events of during late S1/early S2 of BSG are actually much more complicated that I remembered. It's made even more complicated when I am pushing the arrival of the _Pegasus _and Admiral Helena Cain forward by 10 episodes right on top of the political troubles of the Fleet. On top of that, we will eventually have the Normandy and TF _Aquila_ keeping them away from their destination, once they are encountered and contacted, that is. I thus have to make the decision of what to cut or streamline, and I just finished re-watching Season 1, and it's going to be some work.

At this point, the ending could be several things, I'd like to avoid the Colonials arriving at Earth immediately, but I think I'll make a decision on how it ends later, if I even get that far, that is. As I stated before, I'm planning on writing several chapters before I post the story, in an effort to keep me writing, and to gauge reaction and to change some things as I go, if necessary. I'd like to thank you, the readers, for giving me some support in this, as I said in the first update, I had no idea a BSG/ME crossover was so sought after, and hopefully my interest in the lore of both universes can keep me going, for once.


End file.
